‘The Whole Nine Yards’ – Seeking a Phrase’s Origin In The Future

The recent discovery of several instances of “the whole six yards” in newspapers from the 1910s — four decades before the earliest known references to “the whole nine yards” — opens a new window onto “the most prominent etymological riddle of our time,” said Fred Shapiro, a librarian at Yale Law School who announced the findings in next month’s issue of The Yale Alumni Magazine.

And before anyone takes me to task… Yes, I know about magazine publishing calendars. I have had next months issue of most of my magazine subscriptions for a week or so… I even saw a copy of the March issue of Rod & Custom some where. Now that’s really pushing the calendar.